New York Times: “That aggressiveness served him well in the presidential campaign, and allowed him to muscle through scandals and self-inflicted management mistakes that would have scuttled a lesser politician. But Mr. Trump’s postelection effort to minimize intelligence assessments about Russia’s actions came to an abrupt end Friday after a detailed classified briefing from the nation’s top intelligence officials at Trump Tower and the release of an unclassified report concluding that the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, had a ‘clear preference’ for Mr. Trump.”

“By the end of the day, it was clear that the strategy of intimidation and bluster that served Mr. Trump so well in the presidential campaign would not prove nearly as effective in Washington. Here was a reminder, should Mr. Trump heed it, that a president’s critics, especially the lords of Washington’s national security establishment, can’t always be cowed by a flash-grenade tweet or a withering quip about the possibility that a “400-lb. hacker” might have breached Democratic servers.”

“It was a really great meeting, I really like those people a lot. I learned a lot and I think they did also.”

— President-elect Donald Trump, quoted by the AP, on his meeting with U.S. intelligence agencies.

Washington Post: “The GOP’s willingness to fund Trump’s border wall with taxpayer money could put the party’s deeply held desire to rein in government spending in conflict with its long-standing goal of cracking down on illegal immigration and toughening border security. Nonetheless, many Republicans do not see an inherent conflict.”

“There is no reliable price tag on building a border wall, but Trump has estimated the cost at $8 billion. Recent congressional legislation pegged the number at $10 billion, and construction experts say it could be more than double that.”

“The Trump team is committed to moving forward on the wall quickly and before Republicans become uneasy about the project and its political cost, according to several people close to Trump.”

The Fix: How funding the border wall could go south real quickly for Republicans

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) says he’s thrilled with the “unbelievable” access he’s getting to Donald Trump, noting that the president-elect will answer his phone calls even when he doesn’t know who’s calling, Politico reports.

Said Corker: “The president-elect, as you know, still answers his cellphone number.”

Washingtonian: “And you thought the $14 cocktail was too pricey? The Trump hotel’s lobby bar has raised its cocktail prices yet again. The cheapest option now is $24, while the most expensive is $100. It’s safe to say the Trump hotel’s Benjamin Bar & Lounge is now the most expensive overall bar in all of Washington, and its price hikes are the hugest I’ve ever seen, especially in such a short period.”

Former CIA director James Woolsey, “a veteran of four presidential administrations and one of the nation’s leading intelligence experts, resigned Thursday from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team because of growing tensions over Trump’s vision for intelligence agencies,” the Washington Post reports.

“Woolsey’s resignation as a Trump senior adviser comes amid frustrations over the incoming administration’s national security plans and Trump’s public comments undermining the intelligence community.”

“Donald Trump’s unique, chaos theory of presidential communications is upending Washington, leaving lawmakers, government officials and lobbyists aghast that they are beholden to a single leader’s whims, not to mention the uncertainty about his true thoughts and intentions,” Politico reports.

“Unlike more traditional administrations, in which a White House focuses on one big agenda item at a time and mobilizes all resources to galvanize public and congressional support for it, Trump has shown no sign of abandoning his off-the-cuff, scattershot approach to tweeting. And in a town that relies on information flow, Trump’s unpredictable style threatens to paralyze Washington’s power brokers.”

“Grow up, Donald. Grow up. Time to be an adult. You’re president. You’ve got to do something. Show us what you have.”

— Vice President Joe Biden, in an interview on PBS, criticizing Donald Trump’s attacks on the U.S. intelligence community and his grasp of health care policy.

Francis Wilkinson: “This was the obvious lesson as Donald Trump sold out House Republicans this week. GOP members had sought to quietly defang an anti-corruption watchdog office. After angry constituents phoned House offices, Trump saw the Republicans’ position eroding, and slipped them a banana peel, tweeting that they should focus on tax reform and health care instead. He didn’t object to their goal; ethics are not exactly a Trump priority. He was simply taking an opportunity to enhance his image while sullying that of Congress.”

“Because Trump needs the Republican majority in Congress, his attacks on the institution will be more subtle than his attacks on other democratic institutions have been. But he intends to undermine Congress early and often, then bring it to heel.”

“The debts of President-elect Donald Trump and his businesses are scattered across Wall Street banks, mutual funds and other financial institutions, broadening the tangle of interests that pose potential conflicts for the incoming president’s administration,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars of debt attached to Mr. Trump’s properties, some of them backed by Mr. Trump’s personal guarantee, were packaged into securities and sold to investors over the past five years.”

For members: What We Still Don’t Know About Donald Trump

This is an amazing tool: Factbase is indexing and transcribing nearly every speech, tweet or other utterance of Donald Trump.

For example, this search finds every time Trump has said the word “fuck.”